A Letter to St. Peter

March 4, 2008

Dear St. Peter,

I just read an article that made me cry about a parish in Minnesota. . . . Rules and Regulations. . Rules and Regulations. . . I know we need them to keep order. But sometimes the rules just get in the way.

I have a lot of questions I’d like to ask you. I just don’t know. I just don’t understand all of these rules and regulations and what they have to do with Life Eternal. Again, I know we need the rules to keep things running smoothly. But, well, it’s just that lately the rules create more darkness than light.

I mean, we just heard the story of the Man Born Blind at mass this past weekend. Yet, so many fail to be able to see. Please, St. Peter, answer my questions. I’d really like a clearer vision of what Diosito wants this Church of ours to look like for our day.

If David danced before the Lord
why isn’t o.k. for the faithful to do so today?

If Judith played her tambourine,
wouldn’t tambourines at worship
make liturgy more scripturally sound?

If a woman proclaims the Gospel at mass on Sunday
does that mean The Word is uttered without effect?

If the Paschal Candle
is placed 12 inches too far to the left
does that, somehow,
make the Holy Fire
of the Easter Vigil less sacred?

If some can’t even see
the metaphor in the previous question
without my pointing it out for them,
How can they possibly hope
to proclaim The Word,
which is so full of metaphors and creative imagery,
to today’s world?

If someone says,
"The Lord be with you,"
and I respond, "and also with you,"
instead of, "and with your spirit,"
does that mean that the Lord,
will not be with that person
because of the phrase I respond with?

And why is the church
worried about translations right now anyway?
Don’t we really have
things of much greater importance to be focused on?

If the vestment for Advent
Is closer to the color blue than purple,
will the Liturgical Police arrest someone?
Who will they arrest?
The priest who wore it?
The Worship Commission who decided upon it?
The parish secretary who ordered it?
The owners of the liturgical supply house

whose catalogue advertised it?
The owners of the company in China who made it. . . .

. . .who probably aren’t even Catholic anyway?
What would the Liturgical Police
say about a blue zarape?

If a Catholic priest gets married
does this, somehow, erase the Sacrament of Ordination?
If so, then,
if a married Anglican priest becomes a Catholic priest,
shouldn’t this, then, erase his marriage??

St. Peter,
When will you tell you us more about your wife?
I’m certain she could give many
the inspiration needed to keep going right now.
Can you tell her that there are many of us
that would like for her to start her own blog?
Her site would get plenty of hits,
that’s for sure!

And Oh. . . St. Peter. . .
. . when what’s going on in the country
goes and gets all mixed up the teachings of Jesus. . .
St. Peter, tell me,
before I feed the hungry
do I really need to ask to see their Green Card first?
And please explain to me, Good St. Peter,
how we can break the bread at the Eucharistic Table,
And then tell some of God’s children
it’s o.k. for them to harvest the grapes,
but it’s not o.k. for them to drink the wine?

And when Leonardo Boff was silenced,
didn’t anyone realize
that this would only make us hungrier for his words?

And Good St. Peter,
Please tell me the truth.
Wasn’t it a woman who first said these words,
"This is my Body.
This is my blood,"
When she embraced her newborn son

in the cave of Bethlehem?

And all this talk
Of what is or is not appropriate music for the liturgy.
Please tell me, San Pedro,
Is there a Mariachi Band in Heaven?
You see,
I just can’t imagine walking in through those pearly gates
Without the trumpet making music, "El Son de la Negra."

Quite frankly, it’s not The Kingdom without Mariachi.
If a Mariachi Band isn’t allowed,
then please don’t have them come for me
until you can straighten out the books on that one.

Please be sure to straighten out the rule about dancing, too.
Nothing celebrates the joy of life
that our Good and Gracious God has given us
like a really good Cumbia.

I’ll await your response on the rest of my questions.
In the meantime,
I’ll try to work them out from this earthly plain.

Say a hello to my dad for me.
You know, he was named after you.
I hope this isn’t asking too much,
But when it is time for me to Come Home,
I would prefer it if he was the San Pedro to open up the gates.
Actually, he’ll be able to do a lot of the grunt work for you.
I’m sure he’s already got a Mariachi band all picked out.

Oh, and say hello to Lupita for me, too.
I’m sure She couldn’t imagine Dec. 12th
without a really good Mariachi band
and really good Matachin dancers either.

I’m sure you have a lot of important work to do,
Being one of the major santos and all.
So I’ll close here.
Thank you for all that you do for us.
Estamos muy agradecidos.

Tu hermana en la lucha,
Rubi.

© 2008, Rubi Martinez-Bernat.
All Rights Reserved.

Second Letter to St. Peter

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Video:
Detroit Area Mariachi

Performing The Well Loved Celestial Song:
El Son De La Negra

Welcome to Liturgy House

Hello and welcome to Liturgy House. Here I hope to muse, reflect and perhaps even challenge others, especially those of us for whom worship, liturgy, the bible, church life and ministry are a part of the very fiber of our being.

Liturgy is life. What’s more, Life is Liturgy. Liturgy, with a capital "L", should reinforce and lock in time in a public way and before God that which already is (life). If a young couple is in love and they choose to spend the rest of their lives with each other (and they choose a church wedding) they make it a public and formal ritual by celebrating the sacrament. That is to say, through the liturgy. In a sense, they were already about "the work" of the wedding liturgy by developing their relationship. Their life is a liturgy, small "l".

This hypothetical wedding, and indeed all Worship and Liturgy, cannot and should not be planned in a fashion that is disconnected from the lives of the assembly who gather. Liturgy is more than just ritual. I repeat what I stated in the previous paragraph: Liturgy is Life & Life is Liturgy.

Sometimes, however, a worshiping community can be disconnected from what is going on in their own neighborhoods, in their own backyards. . . .indeed, disconnected from "the work" that is life. This disconnect can cause a disconnect in the work of Liturgy, a disconnect in the manner and fashion in which Liturgy is celebrated. Slowly but surely I’ll expound on these thoughts through "the work" of this blog.

And so, I have created this blog because there are so very many thoughts dancing around in my head. Oh, and somewhere along the way I’ll surely write about dancing in the Liturgy. And art and environment. And Music. And I’ll surely write on one of my favorite subjects: Cultural Adaptation!. . . .and before anyone starts writing and commenting and calling me a heretic, let say publically here and now that I can barely imagine a Dia Doce celebration without Matachin. For those of you who don’t know what Matachin is, what Dia Doce is, well. . .you’ll just need to trust me and check in on this blog every now and again!

Having said all of the above, let me simply state that it is sometimes just plain cathartic to write, to just release the words from one’s mind!

And when, in fact, we release those words and place them on parchment (albeit, electronic parchment), they often return to us with ideas from others. And so, the dialogue begins.

And isn’t liturgy celebrated best in dialogue, when all respond, participate?

Welcome to my house, to our house, to Liturgy house.
Mi Casa es Tu Casa.
Peace to all who enter here.

Espanol Aqui / Spanish Here

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About the photo: I have a particular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Can you tell? I've visited the Basilica in Mexico City several times and even had the honor of serving with my friends as guest choir. Yes, we'll surely discuss popular piety here at Liturgy House!